


laughing and drinking and smoking and singing

by stefonzolesky



Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Gen, I'm a bad writer, special thanks to the blunder bus for the names of tonys siblings, this was gonna be longer but then it wasn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 22:31:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15520053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stefonzolesky/pseuds/stefonzolesky
Summary: Tony likes the way the cards feel in his hand, a constant, something he has control over. His life is nothing but chaos.





	laughing and drinking and smoking and singing

I.

Tony has been practicing magic since his freshman year, since he snatched a deck of cards from his brother’s side of their shared dresser and finally taught himself how to shuffle.

He likes the way the cards feel in his hand, a constant, something he has control over. His life is nothing but chaos.

 

II.

Gio is already on another job -- he got fired two weeks ago, got fired five months ago, got fired a year ago. Tony isn’t old enough to get a job, other than at the family restaurant.

Gio is six years older than Tony, he’s twenty, but he hasn’t moved out yet because Mom and Dad still need him to help out around the house. Tony’s sisters are five and three years older than him. The twins like to gang up on him and block him in the hallway, but Sofia is nicer. She turns a blind eye when Tony rifles through her makeup for eyeliner and silently hands him her makeup wipes when he can’t get it off with just water.

 

III.

Tony hates sharing a room with his younger brother -- Angelo is quiet, he mostly just reads books, but when he isn’t reading books he’s peering curiously at Tony through his glasses or complaining to Mom that Tony’s music is too loud.

When that happens, Tony turns his music up louder.

 

IV.

Tony likes parties, and he likes smoking and he likes alcohol. Gio tells him that smoking is bad for his lungs, like he doesn’t already know. Gio also offers to drive him home from parties while he’s drunk so he doesn’t die.

Tony doesn’t have a right to complain.

 

V.

The number “five” is engraved in the back of his mind.

Gio is one, Sofia is two. Lucia is three to Theresa’s four by mere minutes, and when Tony hears her shout, “four!” from the kitchen, his vocal chords supply the “five” on their own.

 

VI.

When Tony turns seventeen, his family throws him a “classic Morielli-Feinberg surprise party.”

Tony laughs at them, ignoring the dropping feeling in his stomach when he sees his mother’s disappointment, and storms off to his and Angelo’s shared room. Angelo isn’t there, he’s at the party, so Tony locks the door.

He feels guilty about it, but doesn’t want to apologize. He doesn’t want to seem weak.

 

VII.

Tony runs away shortly before he’s about to turn eighteen. He’s gone long enough without incident, without lashing out. He knows his parents will worry.

Sofia finds him at a skate park not too far from their house, because he didn’t have the guts to go any further. She doesn’t get mad -- nobody does. She just drives him home. His mom kisses his forehead and tells him to “never do that again.” He promises her that he won’t.

 

VIII.

Tony moves out as soon as he can.

It's not like he doesn't love his family -- he does! -- it's just that their house is crowded and chaotic and the smell of freshly baked bread is stuck in Tony’s nose so often that he's sick of it.

 

IX.

He doesn’t end up living far from his family -- he’s eighteen, he needs their support sometimes -- but living on his own opens up better opportunities. He starts booking small shows as a magician.

Booking these shows by no means assures that he’ll be taken seriously. It’s  _ tough _ to be taken seriously in a magic career, especially as an eighteen year old.

The shows don't pay incredibly, so Tony takes up a job at a bookstore a few blocks away from his house in the meantime.

 

X.

After a few years too many, once he’s in his late twenties, Tony steps off of a well-paying show. Unfortunately, he steps off to a funeral. He gets the call once he heads backstage. His older brother has passed away.

“I’m sorry,” He says, as soon as he steps through the door of his childhood home. He rushes to hug his mom, mumbling, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should have been there.”

In that moment… he feels so, so fucking ungrateful. He should have been there, not even just in this instance, but in all those years and bullshit rebellions. He should have been there.

“I’m sorry,” His mom echoes, carding a hand through his hair. “I didn’t want to call you before the show, you would have called it off, and Gio--” Her voice breaks. “Gio wouldn’t have wanted that.”

Tony frowns, and allows his mom to break the hug of her own accord. Magic, at that point, becomes less of a hobby or a way to make a quick buck on his own time. It becomes more important, forever a presence in his life because Gio was always,  _ always _ supportive of him and his magic. Tony wouldn’t want that to go to waste.  


End file.
